The Longest Weekend

[David Falkayn]

Friday night, I complained about a pain in my side due to a severe cough thanks to a sinus infection.  When I was brought to the Emergency Room, I thought all that would be needed would be for them to give me something for the muscles in my side that I strained. Instead, Friday night began a rollercoaster ride that resulted in an extended hospital stay, numerous tests, and the discovery of a serious problem as we found out that I'm suffering from atrial fibrillation and a faulty micro-valve. I can't offer enough praises for the doctors, nurses, PAs, and nurse technicians at the hospital where I was treated. They really did take good care of me. I've got a crackerjack cardiologist on my case now and between him,me, and the fam, we're going to lick this.

But the diet...Oh the pain...renal, low cholesterol, and low sodium. The irony here is that my cholesterol level is only 113--so my LDL is actually fairly low--but then, so his my HDL which is not good. As for the low sodium--I just took a look at my freezer and shook my head--oh well, guess I won't be eating that stuff. I'm also going to miss my raw spinach, grapefruit and grapefruit juice, and cranberry juice as those things don't work and play well with some of my meds.

Speaking of which, I literally have a medicine chest full now. Blood thinners, blood pressure regulators, diuretics to get the water weight down, and a few other things. Thankfully, almost all of my meds are generic so...no big cost for us.

Still...a piece of advice...best thing to do...don't get yourself into this situation. Having a wire stuck through your hand so that the doctor can do a heart-catheter to do an angiogram is NO FUN!!! It frakking HURTS!

Take care all, and it's great to be alive!

[The Lone Red Shirt]

Sorry to hear about your rough weekend but glad you got some answers. It's good to hear you received excellent medical attention. Diet and life-style changes are no fun but I'm sure you'll handle it with aplomb.

The wire in the hand thing, though - OW! 

[Cejay]

You have my sincere sympathies for your hardships.

I've always said that the human body is simply not sturdy enough. Why aren't we all build like Klingons? I'm sure they wouldn't have these 'puny' problems.

[BrotherBenny]

Hope all goes well for you, and glad you're mostly all right.

[David Falkayn]

Thanks guys!  It's been about three weeks since my hospitalization and I'm adjusting to my new lifestyle.  I've lost a lot of weight--about forty pounds worth!  The doctor's put me on a 4000mg daily sodium diet and I'm finding that it's not that difficult.  Me and the boss have found some very creative no-salt recipes--even a few for BBQ sauce and spaghetti sauce!  Only problem is that a lot of Chinese and Japanese meals are now off my menu due to the use of soy sauce--I'm on Cumadin which is a blood-thinner and soy has high concentrations of vitamin K, a coagulant.  Right now, I also have to be careful to avoid foods with sorbitol because I'm on a potassium reducing drug--too much potassium in my body.  It's a pain not being able to eat out--I miss Sonny's and a few Oriental restaurants we liked to go to, but, that's the way it is.

On the writing front, I'm hoping to get back to that soon--when my problem hit, I was moving along pretty nicely on a Perseus short story and I had gotten back to Blood Cries.

Take care all, and it's good to be alive.

[mirandafave]

David glad that the outcome was as good as it was. It's bad news in many ways yes, but it could have been far worse. Good luck with the new diet and I suppose certain imposed lifestyles choices. It'll all be worth it - so stick wiht it. Good luck and take care.